ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 6, 1997 TAG: 9701060099
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CLIFTON A. WOODRUM
SOMEWHERE between the time the Christmas tree is laid out on the curb for the city to remove and the last touchdown is scored in the college bowl games, but before the first resolutions of the new year are broken, the news media begin to focus on the convening of the annual session of Virginia's General Assembly.
This year being the "odd-numbered" year, the assembly will meet in the "short" session. Under the Virginia Constitution, the session is set for 30 days, but can be extended for another 30 days by a two-thirds vote of each house. The session this year - by a consensus of the leadership of both parties in both houses - will meet from Wednesday, Jan. 8, to Saturday, Feb. 22.
The population of Richmond will swell somewhat as delegates, senators, staff, lobbyists and reporters converge on this annual event. The business of the commonwealth will begin at a furious pace. The legislators will declaim, the reporters will report, the editorialists will view with alarm and point with pride. And the commonwealth and its people will continue to survive and flourish.
During this 46-day period - if history is any standard by which we may judge (and it almost invariably is) - the members of the assembly will consider more than 3,500 measures (3,577 were considered in the 1995 "short" session). A delegate will cast more than 2,300 floor votes. To put this in some perspective, that is more than twice as many votes as a congressman will cast in an entire year.
Despite the heavy workload and the compressed schedule, the delegates and senators will not come unprepared on the legislation that will confront them. A significant number of bills were carried over from the 1996 session - some for more "mature reflection" by the honorables, and some, if the truth be told, to suffer a more lingering death. More than 100 study committees, commissions and gubernatorial "task forces" (the latter, a recently devised attempt by the executive branch to legitimize some of its more unusual proposals) have been at work studying issues and fashioning possible legislative responses and initiatives.
I've found that each session develops a natural rhythm - an ebb and flow of issues peculiar to it. Matters that get great attention in January often have faded with the melting of February's snow. One constant, however, is the budget.
The budget was adopted at the 1996 session to provide for the estimate and appropriation of the revenues from July 1, 1996, to June 30, 1998. The 1997 session will consider amendments to the budget and how to dispose of an approximate $250 million surplus.
The governor's suggested amendments are contained in a bill which is more than 450 pages in length. His recommendations dispose of all but about $21 million of the surplus. Of course, his recommendations will be reviewed, accepted in part and rejected in part by a General Assembly which (being more recently elected) will seek to assert the prerogatives of the people in determining the priorities of our commonwealth.
The governor - having recommended disposition of more than 90 percent of the surplus - was characteristically unable to resist a gratuitous suggestion that the assembly forgo any further appropriation of the surplus, claiming that it shouldn't "spend it all." Curiously, the governor ignored, forgot or was unaware of the fact that the Constitution requires a deposit of nearly $18 million of the surplus into the Revenue Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund) which is, in essence, a mandated savings account for our state government.
The governor's suggested amendments propose significant spending increases in adult and juvenile corrections, in the amount of $75.5 million. Much of this increase will be necessitated by new facilities coming on line and the new expense of operations. The remaining increases are spread across the breadth of government.
In late January, the revenue estimates will be revised based on further economic information, actual results and new forecasts: The Christmas season results will be analyzed. The revisions almost always increase the revenue estimates. Thus the budgetary "end game" begins.
The final adoption of the budget is usually one of the last acts of the assembly.
As the budget wends its way through the legislative process, the myriad of other proposals likewise move - some to become law, others to strut and fret an hour upon the stage and then to be heard no more.
The committees on courts of justice in both houses are typically the most active. Many bills will revisit issues of past sessions; others will focus on new problems. We expect legislation to be proposed on "first offender" drug possession - some bills to expand the courts' authority to deal with sentencing, others to restrict it. Legislation to further broaden or restrict the ability of persons to carry concealed weapons will be considered. DUI and death-penalty legislation will be revisited. A form of registration for sex offenders who have been released from prison will be speedily adopted.
The custody and control of children in divorces has been the subject of much controversy and study over the past few years, and it will reappear at the 1997 session.
The subject of campaign finances will generate a considerable amount of rhetoric, posturing and editorial pronouncement. Improved disclosure laws, and, possibly, electronic filings will be the most likely result.
A comprehensive recodification of the statutes affecting the conduct of local government has been the subject of a study over the past two years by the Code Commission. The resulting bill - so massive that it could knock one unconscious if dropped on his head - will rearrange and reorder the entire Title 15.1. Its passage will be watched closely by local governments and all who deal with them - and hardly anyone else.
In health care, the reordering of the marketplace will continue to draw attention. Bills to restrict the authority of HMOs and managed-care companies will be debated. A bill to make certain that women have the right to buy health-insurance coverage for prescription contraceptives will be considered early in the session in the House of Delegates.
Study commissions on the Future of Public Education, the Accountability of Educational Excellence and Financing Educational Infrastructure reflect Virginians' continuing concern with the progress and status of public education. The initiatives of the 1995 and 1996 General Assemblies will be further enhanced during the 1997 session.
The administration's cavalier rejection of $23 million in federal Goals 2000 money (making Virginia the only state in the Union to turn it down) and its failure (one of five states) to take advantage of $36 million in federal funds for school-to-work programs will be the subject of legislation to make certain that Virginia's children are not slighted further.
On the gambling front, it is unlikely that riverboat gambling will be considered again. If it is, it will be unceremoniously sunk. Horse racing may actually start next year, and there will be "adjustments" to the Charitable Gaming (Bingo) Law and the Lottery.
There will be the standard "turf" fights between various professions, occupations and industries, all of whom proclaim that the legislation they favor or oppose is for the greater good of the consumer (who, if everyone is to be believed, is the most protected and defended individual in the commonwealth).
As the sun sets at the end of the legislative day on Feb. 22, about 60 percent of the bills that were introduced will have passed in some amended form. And while the process is not always pretty, it is better than any other yet devised.
The work of the Virginia General Assembly is usually the product of consensus. Although partisan rhetoric receives a lot of attention, the overwhelming majority of votes are not divided along partisan lines. The result is generally for the good of the people.
Clifton A. (Chip) Woodrum of Roanoke is a Democrat representing the 16th District in the Virginia House of Delegates.
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Barbara Cummings/Los Angeles Times KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLYby CNB